Bradley Byrne: Big breakthrough on repealing Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is failing the American people by driving up costs and limiting options for families. President Donald Trump and the Republican controlled Congress have pledged to make repealing and replacing Obamacare a top priority. Well, we had a major breakthrough last week when the House passed the American Health Care Act. I voted in support of this legislation to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a system that gets the federal government out of the way. Americans deserve an accessible and affordable health care system that promotes quality care and peace of mind. Rather than top down, one-size-fits-all insurance plans mandated by the government, we need innovation and competition in our health insurance market to drive down costs for families. That is exactly what the American Health Care Act does. The bill repeals the individual and employer mandate penalties to allow workers, families, and employers greater flexibility to find health care plans that actually work for them. For low and middle income families who do not receive health insurance through a government program or their employer, the bill offers monthly tax credits to help purchase affordable coverage. The core focus of the American Health Care Act is to drive down costs and repair damage done to the overall insurance markets by Obamacare. Beginning in 2018, the bill provides immediate funding to help calm the individual market and lower premiums. Specifically, the bill contains a premium stability program modeled after the successful program enacted in Maine. In Maine, individuals in their 20s saw premium savings of nearly $5,000 per year and individuals in their 60s saw savings of more than $7,000 a year. As premiums dropped, younger and healthier individuals entered the market. This increased total enrollment in Maine and saved their citizens thousands of dollars a year on their health insurance. Such savings are in stark contrast to what we have seen under Obamacare. Our commonsense bill also reforms health savings accounts (HSA) to make it easier for families to save for medical care. Even more, the bill fundamentally reforms Medicaid and cuts about one trillion dollars in taxes. Some in the liberal media have attempted to distort the truth about the American Health Care Act in an effort to protect Obamacare, so I want to clear up some of the misinformation. First, the bill specifically prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with pre-existing conditions. The bill also continues to require insurance companies to allow young adults up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance, maintains the ban on lifetime or annual limits, and prevents insurance companies from charging women more than men. The House also passed a bill making crystal clear that every provision of the American Health Care Act will apply to Members of Congress and our staff. Members of Congress should not be held to a different standard than other Americans. In a victory for those of us who are pro-life, the bill blocks government funding of any kind from going to Planned Parenthood and redirects that funding to community health centers, which are much more plentiful and do not provide abortion services. I thoroughly read and analyzed the American Health Care Act before voting in favor of it on May 4th. Passing this bill is a huge step toward fixing our health care system and rescuing the American people. The bill now moves over to the Senate, where it will likely undergo additional changes. I look forward to following the process as it moves forward, and I encourage you to do the same. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Alabama lawmakers discuss their votes to repeal Obamacare
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. On President Donald Trump‘s 105th day in office, H.R. 1628: American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017, was narrowly approved 217-213. All Democrats, including Alabama’s own 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, and a group of mostly moderate Republican holdouts voted against the bill. Passing the American Health Care Act is the first of a three-step plan by Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration to repeal and replace Obamacare. Upon enactment of AHCA, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price will begin using his authority to unravel the web of Obamacare rules and regulations that drive up patient costs. Finally, Congress will take up stand alone legislation to further bring down costs through bipartisan proposals such as allowing insurance competition across state lines and health care portability. The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration, where it expected to modified significantly. Here’s what the Alabama delegation had to say about their votes: Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne: Today, I voted to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a health care plan that actually lowers costs and gets the federal government out of the way. Importantly, the bill continues to ensure protections for people with pre-existing conditions. It also cuts taxes, defunds Planned Parenthood, and fundamentally reforms Medicaid. To be clear, I understand additional changes to the bill may be necessary as the bill moves over to the Senate, but today was a step in the right direction toward rescuing the American people from the failures of Obamacare. Alabama 2nd District U.S. Rep. Martha Roby: For seven years I have promised my constituents that I would repeal and replace Obamacare. A month ago I sat in the Oval Office and told the President of the United States that I was with him and that I would help get this Obamacare repeal bill through the House of Representatives. Today we were finally able to deliver on that promise in a meaningful way. Obamacare is crumbling as we speak. Premiums are skyrocketing, deductibles are through the roof, and people are being hurt because they can’t afford care. That’s why we are repealing this failed law and replacing it with a patient-centered system that lowers costs, increases choices, and isn’t run by the government. Alabama 3rd District U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers: No public comment at this time. Alabama 4th District U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt: Today I voted for, and the House passed, what the Republicans have promised to do for the past seven years: repeal and replace Obamacare. Contrary to claims in the media, doing nothing was not an option. Obamacare is failing us and premiums are getting worse, not better. Americans continue to see their healthcare options dwindle. Obamacare has also led to more expensive insurance that Americans cannot afford to use – higher premiums and higher deductibles. Today’s vote addresses these issues head-on. This bill ensures that individuals with preexisting conditions will continue to have insurance coverage. There is also assistance for older, rural and poor seniors included in this bill. In addition, today’s vote repeals all of the Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood and instead redirects this money to the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). This amounts to 90% of the federal funds received by Planned Parenthood. Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks: While today’s health care legislation falls short of the full ObamaCare repeal that I called for and believe in, a partial repeal does more good for working American families than no repeal at all. I am proud that diligent House Freedom Caucus work has forced amendments that converted substantial increases in health insurance premiums into substantial cuts in health insurance costs for tens of millions of Americans. The AHCA repeals roughly twenty ObamaCare taxes that have hurt job creators and cut take-home pay. The AHCA repeals the ObamaCare individual and employer mandate penalties that undermine freedom of choice and liberty. Alabama 6th District U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer: Today the House of Representatives took the first step toward repealing and replacing the misnamed Affordable Care Act and restoring access to affordable healthcare for all Americans. …There is no underlying intention to exclude people from coverage, including those who have been previously sick, and it is important to note that this bill will not exclude people from coverage. There is a little known provision in the bill which defunds Planned Parenthood for one year and will protect this lives of the unborn. This bill is not the end of our efforts to dismantle Obamacare and repair the damage done to our healthcare system. It is the first major step forward. Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell: The passage of today’s healthcare repeal bill was a tragic case of Republican leadership putting politics over people. The GOP rushed this bill through the House without pausing to get a full estimate of what it will cost or how many lives it will impact. That’s legislative malpractice. I voted against TrumpCare because we know it will drive healthcare prices up for working families all while lowering the quality of coverage they receive. I opposed this bill because it will force older Americans to pay premiums five times higher than what others pay for health coverage, while at the same time shortening the life of the Medicare Trust Fund that many seniors depend on. I voted no because TrumpCare will gut essential health benefits, and because my constituents deserve better. Today’s bill is a disaster for Alabama and a raw deal for the American people.
Is ‘Obamacare’ repeal dead — or a legislative zombie?
President Donald Trump‘s plan to kill Obamacare died last week. Or maybe it didn’t. The repeal effort seems to have assumed zombie status — somewhere between dead and alive. This is never-say-die Washington, where big legislative proposals that are in the casket one day can show signs of a pulse and start climbing out the next. It’s a fairly common condition in the capital, where politicians who invest enormous political capital in a proposal are loath to let go. “One of the keys to understanding Washington is to think a little bit like a coroner,” says consultant Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to President George W. Bush. “You have to know when something’s dead and when something’s still kicking, and sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.” To say that Trump and Republican congressional leaders are sending mixed signals about the viability of the repeal effort is an understatement. Last week, when it became clear that House Republicans didn’t have enough votes to pass the health-care repeal bill, the White House said Trump had given it his all, left everything on the field, and was ready to move on. Next up: taxes, the president said, without blinking. His son Eric channeled Kenny Rogers‘ “The Gambler” in praising his father for knowing when to walk away. “Guess what? We’re moving on,” the president’s son told Fox News on Tuesday. “The best business people know … when to hold their cards, know when to fold the cards.” That same night, though, the president told a bipartisan gathering of senators, “We’re all going to make a deal on health care. That’s such an easy one. So I have no doubt that that’s going to happen very quickly.” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday the president had just been engaging in light-hearted banter. But it was no laughing matter to plenty of Republicans on Capitol Hill, where conservatives elected on a promise to scrap the law continue to insist that reports of the repeal effort’s death are premature. “We don’t quit,” said freshman Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican who lost both legs after being wounded in Afghanistan. “That’s how we do things on the battlefield; that’s how things should be done here.” On Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan added to the cacophony of conflicting statements when he told CBS that it’s time for Plan B, where “we keep talking to each other and figure out how we get to ‘yes.’” For all of that, there is little evidence that leaders are working on a concrete plan to revive the repeal effort. Why not admit that? It could be the emotional attachment to a long-held goal. Or a matter of self-interest. “These are creatures that need public recognition and public validation,” says Stephen Wayne, a Georgetown University professor of government. “When they get behind something and it doesn’t go anywhere, or they’re embarrassed by it, it’s a political failure. It’s an ego failure.” Framing the situation more charitably, Fleischer offers this: “People in both parties generally have a lot of heartfelt investments in the policies they’re pursuing. Particularly for core promises, the formality of declaring it dead is gut-wrenching, so you cling to hope and you don’t declare it dead ’til you have no choice.” There are historical examples that demonstrate both the wisdom and folly of refusing to admit defeat. President Ronald Reagan’s push for a sweeping tax overhaul package was pronounced dead on Capitol Hill more than once before a bipartisan package won approval in 1986. President Bill Clinton’s push to revamp welfare was declared a failure repeatedly before it came together. His years-long effort to remake the health care system was declared a goner more than once — and really did die. President Barack Obama‘s attempts to enact gun control measures after the 2012 shooting of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut, ended with the president acknowledging in 2014 that until there was a fundamental shift in public opinion, “it will not change.” Between the clear victories and defeats lies a netherworld of legislative limbo. Obama’s push for big immigration changes stalled after the Senate in 2013 passed a bill with dim prospects of clearing the House, but the idea lived on in people’s hopes and dreams. All the discussion of whether immigration reform was dead or alive was a pretty good indication that it was the former. Obama never explicitly acknowledged the political reality that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was dead after Trump was elected. The White House just stopped actively lobbying Congress to pass it. Obama’s day-one vow to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba became increasingly less likely to succeed over his eight years in office. But he never admitted it was a promise unfulfilled until his last full day in office. Robin Wagner-Pacifici, a sociology professor at the New School for Social Research, said there may be parallels to military surrenders, which fell into disuse in the latter part of the 20th century to be replaced by “conflict resolution or dispute resolution or accords of various kinds that had a much more fuzzy quality to them.” She said it may also be partly a matter of Trump’s fragmented and sometimes contradictory ways of communication, in which “nothing is ever completely resolved or ended.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama Republicans vote to repeal Obamacare, send bill to President’s desk
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives sent legislation to President Barack Obama Wednesday after voting to repeal his legacy health law in efforts to fulfill a 2014 promise to voters. H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, which will almost certainly be vetoed, passed the House 240-181, with the support of all six Republicans of the Alabama Delegation. The bill would effectively demolish the President’s signature Obamacare law by repealing the individual and employer mandates, repealing the medical device and “Cadillac” tax. It also eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and reduces the deficit by over $500 billion. Here’s what the Alabama delegation had to say of their votes: U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL-01): The President can choose to stand with the American people or he can stand against the American people. If he chooses to veto the bill, then the American people will have seen a clear choice between two very different Americas: an America where the government knows best or an America where the hardworking people are empowered. Let’s make the President decide. Let’s hold him accountable. Let’s do the work of our constituents. And let’s pass this bill on behalf of every American who lost their health care plan or saw their health costs increase. Let’s do this for them. U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02): Yes, President Obama can stop our Obamacare repeal reconciliation package from becoming law this year. But, he cannot stop the growing chorus of Americans unhappy with the higher costs and broken promises of his healthcare law. Their voices are being heard in Congress, where, finally, a majority in both the House and Senate are ready to end this failed experiment and deliver better, more workable healthcare policy. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (AL-03): After voting to repeal Obamacare numerous times in the House without the legislation going anywhere in the Senate, I am thrilled that today this bill has passed both chambers and will finally go to President Obama’s desk. H.R. 3762 not only repeals Obamacare, it defunds Planned Parenthood and reduces Federal deficits by an estimated $78.1 billion by 2025. The American people have been very clear in their priorities that this flawed health care law just does not work for them, that Planned Parenthood must not be a wholesale provider of abortions and government spending must be kept in check. Now, President Obama will have the opportunity to make a choice, stand with the priorities of Americans or stand against them by vetoing the repeal bill. U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-04): This is the first time since Obamacare was forced on the American people in 2010 that a bill which actually repeals Obamacare will land on the President’s desk. For the first time, the President will have to sign the bill or veto it – no hiding behind comments about Congress. In these six years it has become clear Obamacare is a failed law. How do we know it has failed? Just look to the millions of families across our country that are struggling each month to pay higher premiums with huge out of pocket expenses for less coverage. It is not enough to try to play defense against the President’s failed policies; instead we will roll up our sleeves to craft tough legislation and take the fight to the White House. We must take the fight to the President — as only Nick Saban can win playing defense all the time. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (AL-05) U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06): The House has voted to repeal Obamacare before, but because of opposition by Senate Democrats, it has never gone further. Now, through the reconciliation process, both bodies voted to repeal major components of Obamacare and send it to President Obama’s desk. I have no illusions about whether the President will sign the bill. But by putting this in front of him, Congress has proven it has the will and the ability to repeal Obamacare, and put that choice before the American people when it comes time to elect a new President. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07): The Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act is House Republicans’ 62nd attempt to undermine or repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We cannot afford to waste time on a bill that is destined for a veto, particularly when there are much more pressing issues facing our great nation. This bill is designed to take health insurance from 22 million uninsured Americans. It would cut the subsidies provided to low and middle income Americans living with diabetes and other diseases. Among its most dangerous provisions is a measure to repeal the Medicaid expansion. Alabama has yet to expand its Medicaid program, and my constituents are among those who have been hardest hit by state lawmakers’ inactions.
